Editing Damon Runyon (section)

==Newspaper reporter==
After military service, he worked for Colorado newspapers, beginning in Pueblo. His first job as a reporter was in September 1900, when he was hired by the ''Pueblo Star'';<ref>"The Press: Broadway Columnist". ''Time'' magazine, September 30, 1940, n.p.</ref> he then worked in the Rocky Mountain area during the first decade of the 1900s: at the ''[[Denver Daily News]]'', he served as "sporting editor" (today a "sports editor") and then as a staff writer. His expertise was in covering the semi-professional teams in Colorado. He briefly managed a semi-pro team in Trinidad, Colorado.<ref>"An All-Star Team Picked by A.D. Runyon". ''Denver Daily News'', September 15, 1907, p. S2.</ref> At one of the newspapers where he worked, the spelling of his last name was changed from "Runyan" to "Runyon", a change he let stand.

After failing in an attempt to organize a Colorado [[minor baseball league]], which lasted less than a week,<ref>Robert Phipps. "Long Evening Kills League". ''Omaha World Herald'', December 21, 1946, p. 7</ref> Runyon moved to New York City in 1910. In his first New York byline, the ''American'' editor dropped the "Alfred" and the name "Damon Runyon" appeared for the first time. For the next ten years, he covered the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] and professional boxing for the ''[[New York American]]''.

He was the [[Hearst Corporation|Hearst newspapers']] baseball columnist for many years, beginning in 1911, and his knack for spotting the eccentric and the unusual, on the field or in the stands, is credited with revolutionizing the way baseball was covered. Perhaps as confirmation, Runyon was voted 1967 [[J. G. Taylor Spink Award]] by the [[Baseball Writers' Association of America]] (BBWAA),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/awards/spink/damon-runyon |title=1967 BBWAA Career Excellence Award Winner Damon Runyon |website=baseballhall.org |accessdate=March 5, 2021}}</ref> for which he was honored at ceremonies at the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]] in July 1968.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/72739732/pride-of-salem-enters-the-hall/ |title=Pride of Salem Enters the Hall |first=Henry |last=Quinton |newspaper=[[Courier-Post]] |location=[[Camden, New Jersey]] |page=27 |date=July 22, 1968 |accessdate=March 5, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> He is also a member of the [[International Boxing Hall Of Fame]] and is known for dubbing heavyweight champion [[James J. Braddock]] the "[[Cinderella Man]]". Runyon frequently contributed sports poems to the ''American'' on boxing and baseball themes and wrote numerous short stories and essays.
{{Quote box |width=320px |align=left|quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
|quote =<poem>
If I have all the tears that are shed on Broadway by guys in love, I will have enough salt water to start an opposition ocean to the Atlantic and Pacific, with enough left over to run the Great Salt Lake out of business. But I wish to say I never shed any of these tears personally, because I am never in love, and furthermore, barring a bad break, I never expect to be in love, for the way I look at it love is strictly the old phedinkus, and I tell the little guy as much.
</poem>
|source = from "Tobias the Terrible",<br> collected in ''More than Somewhat'' (1937)}}